


Dies Irae

by sharklion



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: 90s apocalypse manga AU, Angels and Demons AU, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-04
Updated: 2015-02-04
Packaged: 2018-03-10 12:59:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3291188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sharklion/pseuds/sharklion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of scenes from the Dies Irae-verse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dies Irae

**Author's Note:**

> The Dies Irae AU is [this thing over here.](http://stierhai.tumblr.com/post/106760641734/zexal-fic-that-is-probably-too-ambitious-to-write) None of these will make much sense without that. Since I didn't actually plan on writing it, I'll just be posting scenes as the mood strikes me and they get written.

It's like this: it’s 1999, the end of the year, and they keep saying the end of the world too. But no one really believes that, it's just an excuse for a bigger party. An excuse for people on street corners with signs and to live like tomorrow's never coming because maybe it won't, and for newspaper headlines about the Y2K bug, and for no one to do anything about global warming because none of that matters. The world isn't _really_ going to end.

Except Kotori and Yuuma are drunk and Rei's the sober one and that's definitely a sign the world's going to end.

So it does.

"Shingetsuuuuu," Yuuma calls, walk-leaning on Kotori, (who is giggling because extending Rei's name like Rei always sings 'Yuu~uma-kun~" when he's trying to be obnoxious is really funny when she's tipsy) "You're walking too fast. Kotori's gonna fall behind!"

He laughs too and she pinches his unpierced ear without her giggles dying down, finding it hard to be mad when they're all in a good mood, "Who's going to fall behind?"

"Ow-- owowowow-- Kotori-- leggo!"

"No waaaay. Say sorry!"

"Yuuma-kun, Kotori-chan," Rei begins, mock-politely as he shoves himself between them and wrangled their arms between his, so they were all locked together at the elbows, "If you two dumbass lovebirds could stop _flirting_ , we'd be there already. So it's for the best if I come between you!"

Yuuma glances around, being far too familiar with Rei's _best_ intentions that it's worried instinct when he hears the phrase, but Kotori reaches across Rei to tap Yuuma's shoulder, distracting him. "Yuuma, why aren't we going out? We could be _real_ lovebirds!"

"Can't. Shingetsu would get jealous." Yuuma responds and leans against his friend harder. It's his usual reply because it annoys Rei enough that maybe one day he'll stop bringing it up.

"We can't include him! I don't want to date Rei!" Kotori pokes him in the cheek, illustrating her point.

"Aww, you're going to hurt my feelings, Kotori-chan!" Rei deflects as he drags his drunk friends faster down the streets. They could prod as much as they wanted, as long as they _stayed moving_.

"You can date Cathy instead." She compromises.

"Cat-chan likes Shingetsu?!" Yuuma looks between Kotori and Rei, wide-eyed. "That's why she's always following us around!?"

Coming into view across the intersection, the subway entrance is _close_ and there are mere minutes till midnight. They're home free, after that. "Don't try to foist your stalkers off on me, Yuuma-kun."

"Wait— she's following _me_ around!?" Yuuma pulls away backwards from Rei to face him, into the intersection— Rei and Kotori's eyes widen in his vision, and with alcohol-dulled reflexes his head is too slow in turning the other way to see what's coming. A car, he realizes it has to be. He stepped into the street without checking for traffic, so— those are the headlights now—

He cringes, arms over his head, a gesture as useless as a paper shield—

It doesn't even block the light.

Kotori screams as there's a metal _crunch_ , dropping to her knees. Besides her, Rei's mouth has gone slack. 

The car is totalled, the front end accordioned and glass windshield shattered. Everything up to the driver's seat is steaming machine wreckage.

Yuuma is fine. In his hand is a golden sword with a sheen like hope, and wings behind him all glory. With the conjured sword, the three identical piercings they'd all gotten together burn against their pulses in their ears, roaring, and something coal-hot kettles in Kotori's chest, and Rei's. Rei's eyes fix skyward, momentarily— and he doesn't see what he'd had the weakness to search for.

" _Someone's ahead of schedule_ ," he doesn't explain and tugs Kotori forward, so she has no choice but to stagger upwards to keep his pace. Her inebriation boils away as the heat in her chest climbs higher but she's too stricken to question anything as Rei grabs Yuuma's hand too, while his wings dissipate to nothing, and he rushes into the street, across it— the accident stopped traffic and someone yells for them to stop but he keeps going. He leads the other two, at a run. They rush down the steps, to the station platform— and keep going.

Rei has another one of his mysterious sets of keys, and it's the busyness of the station that saves them any notice as he fails three attempts before wresting open the door to a STAFF ONLY-- MAINTENANCE section. He shoves the other two in without waiting to hear their protests and follows them in. Behind them, he locks the door again.

They're breathing hard from the chase, adrenaline and panic and _since when did Yuuma have wings_ , even if they're gone now, that it's a minute before either of them are together enough to demand answers out of Rei. Yuuma speaks first, "What the— what the heck was that!? Shingetsu, what's going on? I don't get any of this!"

"Don't you watch the news? It's only been yapping about it nonstop— the end of the world is nigh." He gives one of his dagger-edged grins.

"Geeze. . . Rei, that's dumb!" Kotori recovers, and fumes. "Give us a real answer!" There has to be one that will right everything crazy that suddenly seems real.

"Shhh," Rei presses a finger to his lips, and winks, all intimacy, secrets, and bizarre levity despite the dark tenor of the promise that follows, "One minute to go till the New Year, Kotori-chan. _You'll see._ "


End file.
